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Weekly Fraser Valley Sport Fishing Column and Report

?Come on, Jack,? he said. ?Hurry up? We?ll miss the good fishin? if we sit here much longer.?

?What makes you think they?ll rise in all this heat?? I asked him.

?They?ll rise, all right,?? he answered. ?Moon?s down about noon.?

?Whats that got to do with it,? I said.

?Never mind about that,? said Bob. ?Just take my word for it??

?You?ll have to think up a better one than that,? I told him??

Bob shrugged his shoulders and told me the story? His ?grandpappy? had been a market hunter and fisherman in South Georgia when Bob was a youngster. From him Bob had learned? that the time to go after fish or game was when the moon is directly overhead or underfoot.

The above are the words of John Alden knight from his book ?Moon Up ? Moon Down;? and his explanation of solunar (Solar/lunar) theory.

Early in my sport fishing journey, I spent many evenings staring at a full moon on fishless weekends. It did not take too many years before I decided that the moon obviously had some sort of effect on fish.

My first accurate insight into the effects of the moon came from family member, Fred Belding. Fred informed me that due to increased light, providing the sky is clear, fish feed aggressively all night for last five days up to a full moon. By the time the moon is full, (again a clear sky is the determiner) fish are so full that they go off the bite. This feeding also occurs for five days after a full moon; with the most aggressive feeding occurs during the third evening on either side of the moon. Wanting to understand more of the effects of the moon, I attained a copy of Moon Up ? Moon Down. Though somewhat of a academic read, the book did supply a good explanation of the moon?s effect on fish, along with other factors such atmospheric pressure, sun position, tides, and both positive and negative ions.